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Boy in green shirt holding red paper heart cutout on brown table
The news (November 7) that the new Pevensey and Westham Pre-school is to close, has sent shock waves round the community. In the Pevensey Bay Journal, edition 23, published on Saturday November 24, we look at what has happened. We talk to the owner, to staff, to parents and the children and to the committee behind the Memorial Hall in Pevensey. Here is what we know of the story so far.—Bay Life, 10 November 2108
Heartfelt, carefully worded statement from Nick Porter, Managing Director Total Childcare Services, closes new pre-school in Pevensey
In a heartfelt, thoughtful and carefully worded statement to the Pevensey Bay Journal on 7 November, owner Nick Porter says. “It is with huge regret and great sadness that I have to tell you that Pevensey & Westham Pre-school will close permanently on the 18th December 2018. This decision has not been taken lightly as we are hugely aware of the impact it has on the children and the staff. There are a number of factors which are causing the pre-school to close, the main ones being the cost the village hall are charging us in rent, and the lack of funding we receive from the government.
“This has been, without a doubt, the toughest and most difficult business decision I have ever had to make….the reason being that children, families and the team all lose out….people are affected by this and that makes it really distressing for me as the decision maker. Unfortunately though, this is a problem that I have tried to solve but the challenges I am faced with are out of my control.
“We are working closely with the affected families to ensure their children have as smooth a transition as possible”.
First person to talk to the Journal about what has happened was Ami Cane, the same day.
She said, “please can you get the word out there that our beloved Pevensey & Westham preschool based in Pevensey memorial hall will be closed from the 18th December.
“It’s an amazing provision with a brilliant staff team, but due to shortage of funding & rental costs, it’s being closed as of the 18th December.
“We’re all so disappointed for the little ones of Pevensey & Pevensey Bay & local area, as there’s nothing else based in the heart of the Pevensey community like this, that hard working families can access.
“Really is incredibly sad and we’re all feeling rather hopeless for our little ones future”.
Nick Porter is a successful pre-school director.
As well as a succesful pre-school in Herstmonceux, he is also the director of another similar educational facility in the locality, the Little Skaters Nursery & Pre-school IN St. Leonnard’s.
His successful enterprises were built on the achievements in nearby Herstmonceux. The hours of the pre-school have been extended in 2018.
He says about the pre-school in Herstmonceu, “the vision of the pre-school is based on the simple idea that “all children have the right to be understood and valued as innate individuals and to be given the time, opportunity and support to develop as self-competent, creative learners.
“You and your child need to be in an environment where you feel happy and confident to leave your child, in a clean, safe and well-equipped setting. One where children are mixing well, playing together with plenty of opportunity to develop, learn, thrive and reach their full potential”.
The sentiments behind the vision stack up.
When the new pre-schol opened in Pevensey in January this year, following the debacle of the closure of previous owners, which saw the news of the sudden end of the school, annonuced pinned to a fence without explanation to staff, children or the community, the sudden shock saw Nick Porter and his team steep in to take the reins.
As well as talking to Nick Porter, we also talked to some of his staff and could see the capability and industry on offer.
What on earth has gone wrong?
In his carefully worded statement about the closure, Nick Porter talks about “a number of factors which are causing the pre-school to close” and goes on to suggest that the main ones are “the cost the village hall and the lack of funding we receive from the government”.
We go behind the scenes of the new Pevensey and Westham Pre-school to investigate what on earth has gone wrong.
We talk to staff, to the committee that runs the Memorial Hall in Pevensey and to people in the community with a stake in education.
Simon Montgomery, editor of the Pevensey Bay Journal, who has been a teacher for 42 years, said, “notwithstanding Government cuts, we all know that East Sussex County Council is on the verge of bankruptcy, and notwithstanding the fact that community halls need to cover their costs and make a profit to enable them to run all their activities, nonetheless, something is clearly seriously wrong here.
“ If we can not welcome such a successful and well founded pre-school management team, with such a demonstrable understanding of educational values to our community, then something is wrong.
He added, “how come even in this harshest of economic climates, both nationally and locally, can we possibly have fouled up by not seeing that as well as the welcome to the new pre-school this year, steps were not put in place within the community to see that this pioneering institution was not supported?
“As a community, how have we let this failure happen?
“Are we simply incapable of seeing that a pre-school is supported within our communty? What does that say about us? Is the sudden closure of the new Pevensey and Westrham Pre-school an indictnent of us all?”
The fact that days have passed and the Memorial Hall committee responsible for taking money from this pre-school has not yet said a single word in public yet, in spite of an open invitation, is beginning to look like something akin to a local public disgrace.
Who is there on this committee that knows anything about education, how to work with the kinds of pioneering, tested, institution brought to Pevensey by Nick Porter ?
Does what has happened say something about us and the fragmentation of our community?
One thing is for sure, the Memorial Hall in Pevensey should start answering some questions about what has happened and they should start answering them now.
The sad story about the sudden closure of the new Pevensey and Westham Pre-school is already sending reverberations around the community
Read: The heartfelt story, teachers, pre-school children and the community: The failure of the new Pevensey and Westham Pre-school, an indictment of us all, in the Pevensey Bay Journal, edition 23, published on Saturday 24 November.
